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The Sky Stone

Preparation of the Sky Stone for splitting
A piece of Sky Stone being prepared for cutting

… And the tribe who lived above,  had angered God so, that he cast them from the sky,  and buried them below …

 

Through the spread of an oral creation story about a deeply saturated blue material, dug up from the ground and appropriately named as “Sky Stone,” whispers of a mysterious substance began to circulate around the world in the early 1990’s.  With questionable circumstances surrounding its discovery, as well as the mythical tales of how the material came into existence, Sky Stone is more akin to a holy relic than a rock.  One would have to rely mostly on faith in order to believe its extraordinary background claims.

Now, for the very first time, legitimate, scientific results garnered through state of the art analysis, undertaken by two of America’s most reputable institutions for material science research, the genuine nature of this previously unidentifiable / unclassified substance can be documented for public scrutiny and discussion.

The story begins in Asia during a rare gem and mineral sourcing trip by the American artist and designer, Jared Collins.  Like an obsessed orchid hunter looking for a new species to bring into humanity’s collective knowledge, Collins follows leads worldwide on exceedingly rare materials and substances, and when he finds them, incorporates those acquisitions into artworks like an ethereal object of Magic.  From his studio based in Bali, Indonesia, Collins creates meticulously fine sculptures and jewelry that redefine the meaning of rare art.  Some of his greatest creations to date utilize extremely scarce, non-terrestrial materials acquired though negotiations with private individuals and institutions, who he somehow gets to agree to part with samples.

In 2013, Collins contacted a well known rare gem dealer in Hong Kong, and requested to pay him a personal visit at his small penthouse apartment while he was traveling through the country.  Granted permission to do so,  Collins spent a late night rifling though hundreds of bags, containing thousands of rare stones from all over the world.  Nothing however really seemed to catch his eye and Collins would repeatedly ask the dealer, “is this it?  Don’t you have anything else?”

After sifting through countless bags of gemstones that Collins seemed uninterested in, there, sitting on the table right in front of him the entire time, was a +/- 2×3 centimeter, smooth and irregularly shaped “rock” with fine white veins running through it.  There was also a small cutaway piece in a miniature ziplock bag with a bar code on it which was accompanying the larger rock.  Removing it from the plastic, Collins noted;  “It was a curious thing with a very pretty blue color and when I picked up the stone to examine it, it was strangely light for its size and I thought it was some sort of a synthesized or hybrid wax/plastic material, yet it simultaneously appeared to be a natural stone of some kind.  It was perplexing and I had no idea what I was looking at and I had no point of reference to compare it to anything else I had previously seen or handled before.”

Intrigued, he asked the dealer what he was holding. “That’s Sky Stone!,” he was excitedly told.  Collins replied that he had never heard of it.  The dealer went on to explain, “Sky Stone has a story behind it that is almost impossible to believe.  It is said to have come from the heavens.  God, angered by something that had transpired, punished the beings who were living in the sky and cast them into stone and hurled them back to Earth where they were buried into the ground.”  He continued, “I know it seems like nonsense, but that’s how the story was told to me by the person who in fact provided me with several physical samples of it.  This man was the also the one who first taught me about precious stones and it was he who inspired me to study and become interested in gems.  He’s a genuinely intelligent person and he believes the legend of the stone, is to some degree true, so there must be a reason for it…”

Knowing that myths and legends, can in some cases, have genuine truths hidden within them, perhaps Sky Stone did too as Collins began to theorize?  If it was storied to have come from the sky, it may have just been a witnessed meteorite fall that the observers were not aware of what such occurrences were?  There are however, no deep and evenly colored blue meteorites in existence, so that would most certainly exclude it as a meteorite.  Collins was interested in better historical references on the stone and took into account the person he was speaking with.  The dealer, a man with many years in the rare gem trade and with a good reputation worldwide, held steadfast to his opinion that this material was something highly unusual and exceptionally special.  Collins persistently asked what his evidence of the stone’s uniqueness was. The dealer replied, “when I received several pieces of the stone, I too was thinking this story has no credibility, so just for the hell of it, I cut off a small sample from my larger piece and sent it over to Dr. Preeti at GRS Swisslabs to see what he had to say about it through testing.  Dr. Preeti called me back to ask what this stuff was because he couldn’t determine its composition and ended up returning it as “unidentifiable.”  Dr. Preeti only mentioned that he did not believe that the material itself was natural, but the element creating the blue color might be organic. Nothing, however, was able to be conclusively proven.

SKY STONE
The actual sample of Sky Stone submitted to GRS Swisslabs for testing and analysis

 

Intrigued, but highly skeptical of the stone actually being anything it was claimed to be, Collins proposed to buy the small cutaway piece from the dealer so he could study it further, but the dealer just shrugged it off and refused to sell it.  He wouldn’t even name a price for the larger full stone.  Collins was somewhat taken back by this as the dealer’s business was solely based on buying and selling stones, not collecting them.  As it turned out that night, Sky Stone was the only thing in the entire room not going to be made available for sale, and the only thing he was interested to take out of there.  Collins ended up leaving Hong Kong with a haunting feeling that something important may have just slipped through his fingers and he never forgot about that blue stone.

Disappointed in failing to successfully negotiate the purchase of a small piece which could be researched more carefully, Collins was unwaveringly inspired to find out more information on the origin and history of Sky Stone. What he would shortly come to learn added to the stone’s mystery as well as his skepticism of it.

Searching online, there is a handful of information, though none of it verifiable or associated with a credible source. One particular posting from an Italian laboratory showed 2 graphs purporting the composition of the elemental composition of Sky Stone:

Sky Stone Analysis

Sky Stone Elemental breakdown

Another report found online claims:
Tests of Sky Stone were carried out at laboratories of the University of Geneva, the University of Rome, Utrecht, Tokyo and Freiberg, Germany.

Based on the fact that this material does not confirm to any known natural minerals in existence, it is likely an artificial material.  This beautiful blue colored stone with thin white veins running through it is known as “”Sky Stone”” or “”Stone of Heaven.””

Nadia-Note-pietrazzurra
                      Two individual specimens of Sky Stone.           (the color of the stones may be more saturated in these        images than in reality.)    From an unknown collection.

Sky Stone image

Its composition was found to be composed of 77% oxygen, along with traces of carbon, silicon, calcium and sodium.

The composition makes the “Sky Stone” similar to a kind of concrete or stucco, and seems to have been artificially colored. The natives living in the area where the stone was found, already knew about its existence because this stone-like artifact used to pop out during the digging in the area.

Another mystery related to the stone of heaven is that this artifact is always found in soil layers dating to at least 12000 BC. The stone was certainly produced by an unknown, highly advanced civilization lost in time.”

Sky Stone material was also claimed to have made a brief appearance at the weekend market in Marakesh, Morroco (where they also specialize in meteorites.)  It was going by the name of  “kryptonite.”

Enter the Italian “Professor,” Angelo Pitoni. A self-proclaimed botanist, gemstone expert, honored and decorated special forces operative, discoverer of emerald mines, lost civilizations, Mayan statues, and at least half a dozen other claims of great discoveries of substantial historical and financial significance. Unfortunately, though, with all of these extraordinary achievements,  enough for at least 5 lifetimes, Pitoni is not able to be conclusively linked to, or associated with, any credible Universities or Institutions, and none of the statements that he (or others) put forth publicly about his life can be proven or verified anywhere of significant record. His “discovery” and his personal story regarding “the lady in the rocks,” in which he suggested that he found the world’s largest ancient carving of a female head and torso cut into a mountain cliff side, and that she was regularly “talking to him,” could be categorized as looney.  Pitoni is not exactly the kind of character one would like to bestow a lot of trust on, and hence the reason why Collins became ever more skeptical of Sky Stone and its real story when he found out who the person purporting to have discovered it in an old village outside of Freetown, Sierra Leone…

…None other than Pitoni himself.

Professor Angelo Pitoni
“Professor” Angelo Pitoni holding a Nomoli Statue

 

From what little information there is accessible about Pitoni, most of which is written in online forums in Italian, it’s essentially impossible get a legitimate handle on the man’s true background and what, if any, genuine credentials he had as an archaeologist and explorer. Rather than expending a tremendous amount of time on the legitimacy of Pitoni or his claims, we are going to focus our attention on the physical material itself. The question to be answered conclusively once and for all –  What is Sky Stone?  Is it a natural or a man made material?  Is its existence something truly special or just a concocted hoax?  Getting to the bottom of the true nature and composition of Sky Stone could in fact reveal the true nature of the discoverer.  So, to answer this question, the story goes back to Jared Collins.

More than a year after Collins left Hong Kong, he could not stop thinking about the piece of Sky Stone that he had seen on that gem dealer’s table.  He searched tirelessly online to see if there might be an alternative source for the material where it could be acquired. Perhaps from a private individual who might have a small piece which could be purchased and studied?  But to that end, there was literally no one to be found. The only place there was a piece known to exist publicly was at Erich Von Daniken’s museum, the Mystery Park, in Interlaken, Switzerland.  Collins contacted the Museum with a letter of request in an attempt to buy a very small cutaway piece from one of their 2 large stones. The museum gave no reply and hence rejected it.

skystone on display at the Mystery Park
A large sample of Sky Stone (far right) next to 3 Nomoli statues (left) on display at the Mystery Park Museum – Interlaken, Switzerland.

Realizing that the only place where a piece of this material might still possibly be able to be acquired, Collins had no other option than to reach out to the Hong Kong gem dealer, again.

Collins e-mailed the dealer with a carefully worded letter to test the waters and to see if he had changed his mind as to whether or not he would be willing to sell him either his full piece of Sky Stone, or if not, then at least the small cutaway piece.  To his surprise, the 12 months of time which had passed since their last conversation, there now seemed to be less reservations from the dealer, who said he was open to the possibility.  After several further e-mails and a phone call, Collins made a proposal to the gem dealer which was accepted,  and he agreed to sell the cutaway piece.  That small piece of Sky Stone was soon on its way to Collins’ studio in Bali.

Jared Collins' Specimen of Sky Stone
The cutaway specimen of Sky Stone that Jared Collins was able to acquire from the Hong Kong dealer (the same piece as at the top of the page.)  This specimen is also the same sample which had previously gone through testing at GRS Swisslabs and came back as unable to be identified.

 

Sky stone mailer from Hong Kong
Mailer with the Sky Stone which was shipped to Collins from Hong Kong

 

Collins requested that the dealer send an accompanying letter with the piece of Sky Stone, detailing as much information as possible regarding his understanding of the material’s background, how he came in to possession of it, and anything further he personally knew about, or had heard about, Sky Stone.  The following are direct excerpts from that letter:

Thursday, Feb 20th, 2014

Hi Jared,
This is my account of how the piece of Sky Stone came into my hands.

Many years ago, I was traveling around the world (for over 10 years.)  I was living in India for more than 3 years when I met a man named Vijay, an Italian who had been living there for over 30 years. This was in the year 2000.  He was living in Auroville, Tamil Nadu.  He had a small house and a shop where he used to sell a few minerals and stones, mostly for healing purposes. I am not really into all this channeling or energetic approach regarding gemstones, but nonetheless, I respected his passion for it.

Around 2008, I had met him again when he was giving seminars in Italy.  At that time I had already built up my gemstone company and he showed me a sky blue colored stone and asked for my opinion. I had no idea what it was and this is the first time I had seen this.

He told me that this stone’s origin was believed to be extraterrestrial and was hurled onto Earth.  And so, with that comment…  you can understand why I couldn’t really take it too seriously, but knowing him and his character, I also knew he would never lie to me, so I just sort of left it at that.

I asked him what he knew about that stone and he told me this:

It was found by an Italian man who was interested in anthropology and ancient tribes in Africa.  On one particular occasion,  this man had visited a tribe (I don’t remember the place he said) and spent some time to speak with them. They told him a story about a time when, somehow, the heavens had fallen to Earth.

He requested to know where this place that the heavens had fallen to earth was, and without hesitation, they ended up leading him to one of their sacred sites.  What he saw there was a stone formation on the ground, not very big, and in a triangular shape in middle of the wilderness.  This area was being worshiped by the tribe.  The stones themselves had a striking blue color, with off-white colored veins running through it. These stones were something that he had never seen before.  Even though he has a background in geology, he could not identify what the material was. These stones couldn’t have been that sacred to the tribe, because he managed somehow buy a good amount of it from them and brought it back to Italy not knowing what it was.  He called it Sky Stone.

What I know is that he sent 3 samples to three different labs to have it analyzed.  All three came back with the same result –  saying it was a material whose components cannot be identified as natural or terrestrial.

In the beginning, he never sold fragments of the stones, but rather gave away pieces to people that he knew personally, as well as to people who used it to channel information or whatever.  Everyone who came into contact with it believed that it was something very special.  More and more people heard of him and this Sky Stone and started contacting him for a piece.  He eventually started to sell fragments of the stone to people he didn’t necessarily know and within not such a long time, all of the material was gone.

I heard that story from Vijay and I asked him if he could sell me a few pieces from whatever he had remaining. His friend had visited that professor Pitoni directly in Italy upon hearing of the existence of the stone which had been collected by that professor.

I bought several fragments and sold all but the remaining two pieces you saw at my house, including the small cutaway which you now possess.

Because I have been in the gemstone industry for a long time now, I know all of the best of the best people in the business. I am good friends with Dr. Peretti, the owner of GRS swisslabs and he is regarded as one of the best gemologists in the world.  I wanted to try to challenge him on this material so I gave him a small cutaway (that you bought) to have it analyzed.  After the results came in, he told me that through RAMAN spectroscopy, he could identify a few of the major elements, but the rest, he was unable to identify, as they were not in his database and they don’t seem to have any terrestrial correspondence.  He said it might be an artificial material but unlike ANY other artificial material he has ever seen and has no idea how it was produced.

This is all of the info that I can give you.  See if you can track down Vijay and perhaps he can give you some more details first hand?

– Arthur

Within Just a few days, Collins was indeed able to track down Vijay, the Hong Kong dealer’s source.  He had hoped to be able to get several more pieces of Sky Stone from him, or at the very least, more information about what he was about to receive from the Dealer.

Below is their correspondence:

Correspondence between Jared Collins and Vijay
Correspondence between Jared Collins and Vijay

 

From: Vijay
Date: Tue, Mar 4, 2014 at 10:29 PM
Subject: Re: Sky stone
To: Jared Collins

Om, Jared,

The piece of sky stone which you now have in your possession was discovered by a geologist and adventurer named Angelo Pitoni when he was in Sierra Leone. There, the indigenous population have a legend saying that “diamonds are stars which fell from the sky.” Joking with them one day, Pitoni said: but if the stars fell, then so too must the sky have fallen!” Their reply was: “yes, and we know where it fell…”

A local shaman then brought him to a place where there were some pieces of this blue material on the ground.  Digging into the ground, he found over 200 kg of it which was not in a natural formation, but rather set in a pyramid shape. I was later shown photocopies of a report from geologist stating that the material could not be identified.

My Shakty, Prema Devi, felt that it came from Sirius B.  In 1994, I did a conference in Wien talking about, amongst other things, the work of Greg Braden. I was told that there was a famous sensitive attending the conference and I felt like testing him to see if he was genuine.  I gave him a piece of Sky Stone and asked him what he could tell us about it.  After less than a minute of holding it, he said that the energy was incredible and that it came from Sirius B.  Prema started shouting: “I knew it! I knew it!”

The person who I got the sky stone from said that he does not know where Pitoni is anymore. Years ago I had contacted my source to try to get a few more pieces of Sky Stone, but he had already given away the last of it.

This is all the information I have.

Love and Light,  Vijay

 

As much as Collins appreciated the information and correspondence from both the dealer and his source of the Sky Stone material, the time had come to bring some real science, instead of speculation, into the equation.

Having worked for years with meteorites, Collins knew that the one of the world’s foremost experts on meteorites and extraterrestrial material analysis at the University of Washington Earth and Space Sciences would at least have the equipment, capabilities and know how, to take a look at a sample of Sky Stone and perhaps identify what this material might be composed of,  as well as other details. To ensure that the testing was done impartially, he never told the university specifically what they were examining.  Only that the material was purported to have fallen from the sky and was recovered under the ground.

Their correspondence can be read here: Initial approach and correspondence between Jared Collins and University of Washington’s Earth and Spaces Sciences Department